Introduced by Representatives Flory of Pittsford,
Acinapura of Brandon, Adams of Hartland, Ainsworth of Royalton, Baker of West
Rutland, Bostic of St. Johnsbury, Canfield of Fair Haven, Clark of St.
Johnsbury, Clark of Vergennes, Devereux of Mount Holly, Hube of Londonderry,
Johnson of Canaan, Komline of Dorset, Krawczyk of Bennington, Larocque of
Barnet, Larrabee of Danville, LaVoie of Swanton, Lawrence of Lyndon, Livingston
of Manchester, Marcotte of Coventry, McAllister of Highgate, McFaun of Barre
Town, O'Donnell of Vernon, Oxholm of Vergennes, Peaslee of Guildhall,
Scheuermann of Stowe, Shaw of Derby, Sunderland of Rutland Town, Turner of
Milton, Wheeler of Derby and Wright of Burlington

Referred to Committee on

Date:

Subject: Legislature; fiscal impact statements; penal
statutes

Statement of purpose: This bill proposes to require the
joint fiscal office to prepare, and the legislature to consider, statements
which analyze the fiscal impacts of an enactment or amendment of any penal
statute.

AN ACT RELATING TO FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENTS FOR ENACTMENT OR
AMENDMENT OF ANY PENAL STATUTE

It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of
Vermont:

Sec. 1. 2 V.S.A. § 206 is
added to read:

§ 206. ENACTMENT OR
AMENDMENT OF PENAL STATUTE;

FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENTS REQUIRED

(a) Prior to the enactment or
amendment of any penal statute, the joint fiscal office shall prepare an impact
statement which analyzes the proposed legislation’s fiscal impact on the
criminal justice system with the assistance of the following state agencies:
the office of the attorney general, the office of the defender general, the
department of state’s attorneys and sheriffs, the office of court
administrator, the department of public safety, the department of corrections,
the Vermont criminal justice training council, and any other local or state
agency which demonstrates that the proposed legislation may have a fiscal
impact. When requested by the joint fiscal office, these agencies shall
provide information deemed necessary.

(b) The impact statement shall include
estimates of additional personnel and facilities and the amount of additional
funds required to implement effectively the new or amended penal statute.
The impact statement shall be a part of any relevant legislation prior to its
passage. However, the existence of an impact statement required by this
section in proposed legislation shall not, by that reason alone, require the
referral of the bill to the house or senate standing committee on appropriations.

(c) The appropriations and capital
budgets of the legislative session in which any penal statute is enacted or
amended shall be reflective of, and give full consideration to, the impact
statement required by subsection (a) of this section.